a-monster-calls-posterStarring Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver

Directed by J.A. Bayona

Entertainment One, out now (US), out January 1, 2017 (UK)

J. A. Bayona’s beautiful fantasy movie might just be the most heartbreaking thing you’ll see this year, exploring a dark subject in a credible and life-affirming way.

Much has been written about Patrick Ness’ Carnegie Medal-winning 2011 young adult novel which follows troubled pre-teen Conor as he copes with an ill mother, a dominating grandmother, an absent father and a school that doesn’t know how to treat him. Based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, who herself succumbed to cancer, Ness’ book is quite rightly regarded as a classic, bursting with depth, added meaning and an honesty that cannot be faulted. He has written the screenplay for this movie and doesn’t make a single wrong step.

You ache for Conor (a wonderful Lewis MacDougall) as he rails against the injustices and unfairness of the world. He’s angry, he’s bitter… and then the monster comes. What first appears to be a BUG (Big Unfriendly Giant) is Liam Neeson’s eponymous beast, a Goliath hewn out of an ancient yew tree with sinewy branch limbs and a red-hot furnace roasting beneath the outer branches. But Conor is in such a bad place that he’s not that scared of this unlikely creature, who explains that he’ll return to tell three tales before demanding that Conor reveals his own nightmares.

The wooden monster is Groot on steroids, an exquisitely-rendered Treebeard sans beard that creaks and groans as it crouches under low ceilings and tears through the school cafeteria. Neeson is perfectly cast, his central role in the proceedings being initially ambiguous and only becoming clearer as Conor confronts his own demons.

Felicity Jones adds another fine genre performance to her CV as the dying mother while Sigourney Weaver is her tough mother, outwardly solid while starting to buckle under the pressure of it all. But ultimately it’s MacDougall you’ll be sobbing for as he takes on the weight of an unfair world on his young shoulders.

As with the source novel, the movie doesn’t pull punches in its depiction of a terminal illness and the associated vortex of misery that pulls in those in its trajectory. It confronts the reality that life isn’t painted in strokes of black and white, and while it may be a little troublesome for some pre-teens, those who can manage it will benefit from its verisimilitude.

Verdict: I can’t imagine a better version of Patrick Ness’ modern classic. Depending on when you see it, this will be on your best film shortlist of either 2016 or 2017. And if you haven’t stifled a sob by the end, I’d check that your heart isn’t made of stone. 10/10

Nick Joy